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On Sunday, thousands turned out in New York for a rally to support the attack on Gaza. Speakers included New York Senator Chuck Schumer and Governor David Paterson. The journalist Max Blumenthal, also a Jewish American, spoke to some of the demonstrators. We play highlights. [includes rush transcript]

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This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMYGOODMAN: We continue with our coverage of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza and two very different protests from Jewish Americans on opposite sides of the issues. On Sunday, thousands turned out in New York for a rally to support the attack on Gaza. Speakers included the New York Governor David Paterson, Senator Chuck Schumer.

The journalist Max Blumenthal, also a Jewish American reporter, spoke to some of the demonstrators. Max Blumenthal is a senior writer for thedailybeast.com and a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at the Nation Institute. His work appears at The Nation

, Salon and other publications. His book Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party comes out later this year. This is his report.

UNIDENTIFIED: Long live Israel! God bless America!

SEN. CHARLESSCHUMER: Israel has sent phone text messages to Palestinians in Gaza saying, “Leave your homes, because there are weapons inside them.” What other country would do that?

GOV. DAVIDPATERSON: For the last three-and-a-half years, Israel has been bombarded daily by a number of rockets coming from Gaza.

CHEERLEADER: When I say, “Israel,” you say, “rocks!” Israel!

CROWD: Rocks!

CHEERLEADER: Israel!

CROWD: Rocks!

CHEERLEADER: Israel!

CROWD: Rocks!

CHEERLEADER: What do we want?

UNIDENTIFIED: Peace!

UNIDENTIFIED: Messiah!

CHEERLEADER: Yeah!

MAXBLUMENTHAL: You guys out here to support Israel?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 1: Yep.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: Why?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 1: Because they’re pro-Western and everything. So, you know, don’t want to get killed one day by these, you know, crazy people.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 2: I was at the World Trade Center on 9/11. I saw the [expletive] that was going on. America has to wake up. It’s coming to America, just like it’s happening in the rest of the world. The radical Muslim must be defeated unless we’re going to all ruin the whole Western civilization.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: So how many civilian casualties would it take before you questioned the attack?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 3: There is not a number involved.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 4: Nothing good is going to come out of it, unless they keep fighting all the way with this ’til they wipe them all out.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: Wipe them all out?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 4: Yeah, they got to go strong with this.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 5: There’s only one way to deal with a cancer. You burn it out or you remove it. And when people don’t want to talk and just want to destroy you and not allow you to live, there’s only one thing you can do.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 2: They are forcing us to kill their children to defend our children.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 6: When did Israel blow up any hospitals? They didn’t blow up any hospitals.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: They blow up schools, sorry.

How is Israel kicking Hamas’ ass?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 7: We’re target – it’s – we have a very intelligent way of going about it. We —-

MAXBLUMENTHAL: Very intelligent.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 7: Very intelligent. We have the greatest intelligent out there. We try to minimalize casualties as much as possible, civilians. We have advanced technology.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: Israel knows what schools Hamas is hiding in.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 7: Correct.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: And then they blow up the whole school.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 7: They -—

MAXBLUMENTHAL: Very intelligent.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 7: Yes.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 8: There are weapons factories inside of school. How do you define that?

MAXBLUMENTHAL: They’re making missiles under the school desks.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 8: Yeah. No, how do you define — no, under the schools, there’s underground tunnels.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 9: Wherever there is terror, no matter where they hide, you’ve got to get them out. And if the women and children —-

MAXBLUMENTHAL: Even in a school?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 9: Wherever there is terror -—

ISRAELSUPPORTER 10: Even in a school, even in a school. You have to get them out. Otherwise, no peace, no peace. We have to fight them.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 12: I could tell you one thing: don’t screw with the Jews, ’cause we kick butt. Bam!

ISRAELSUPPORTER 13: Dude, it’s a repeat.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: It’s a repeat of the Holocaust?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 13: Yeah.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: How?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 13: We’re being persecuted again, for the trillionth time ever.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: So we’re fighting a second Nazi, war against the Nazis?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 13: Yeah, yeah.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 10: They want to kill all Jewish people.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 13: It’s a double of the Holocaust.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 14: The reason why more Israelis haven’t been killed or wounded is sheerly by the grace of God, because God has been performing just miracle after miracle. Those who are dying are suffering God’s wrath, but — but we also believe that when the Angel of Death comes out, he takes everyone in his path.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 15: There are different prophesies that says that there will be great wars before the coming of the Messiah. And there are many things that we see have been tied in.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: So, after the downfall and the wars, the Messiah comes back.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 15: That’s what we’ve been praying for, and that’s what we hope will happen.

ISRAELSUPPORTER 16: If Hamas could not differentiate between civil — civilians and army, we don’t need to either. I think we should go with all force and just go in and get them all.

MAXBLUMENTHAL: So what if Israel just, you know, wiped Gaza off the map? What would be so wrong with that?

ISRAELSUPPORTER 16: Um.

AMYGOODMAN: That video from Max Blumenthal produced for website alternet.org. The next day, a group called Jews Against the Occupation also held a protest. They were protesting against the Israeli invasion of Gaza. When we come back from break, we’ll go to that.

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